IT SEEMS seems to me that CRT are going backwards by using technology, writes Charles Hooghkirk.
Since the early 70s when I first started boating on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, all the swing bridges were manual 'push/pull' boat crew operated, (except Plank Lane Bridge which was operated by canal employees.
Seldom 'broke down'
To my knowledge they seldom 'broke down' as there was little mechanical and no electrical/ hydraulic power pack equipment to fail.
Vandals, so often CRTs choice of reason for lack of its technical and maintenance failure, had little to vandalise, being only a pivot and a balance weight working the whole bridge.
Again to my knowledge (limited) there were few if any accidents of cars driving into the canal because the bridge was open. Thus, I believe road safety whilst always a concern was not the main reason for BW/CRT technological leap of faith in promoting key technology swing/lift bridges.
[The image is of the ill-fated Coxhead Swing Bridge on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal that breaks down so often it is now known as 'Cox on the Rocks'—Editor.]
Incapable of maintaining
A technology that as it has been demonstrated time and time again, they are incapable of maintaining or understanding.
Perhaps it’s time to revert to the traditional tried and tested 'push/pull' swing/lift bridges, saving a shed load of money, reducing the annual licence fee, promoting a 'better by canal' attitude…..HUMM Some hope!